Chapter 4: Greetings

Halfway through their walk, a crisp sound of a slap echoed from the palace path ahead.

“You dare to block my way?”

“Your Majesty, please calm down, I didn’t see you…”

A woman with a bright face was reprimanding another concubine.

This was the only way to the Jingxi Palace, and many concubines saw this scene, but none of them dared to do anything but quickly lower their heads and walk past.

“Cousin, this is Concubine Xue, let’s go quickly…” Tang Miaoling reminded her in a low voice.

Although she was domineering in the Ning family, she was not completely brainless. She was just someone who bullied the weak and feared the strong, and she never flaunted herself in front of people with better family backgrounds than her.

Concubine Xue was one of the two newly selected showgirls with the highest rank.

She came from the Duke of Su’s Mansion.

When the Great Yan Dynasty was founded, the founding emperor granted the title of Duke to two, Marquis to four, and Earl to twenty-one, all hereditary and irreplaceable, lasting as long as the country.

Although there were occasional titles granted for military merit, they would be lost after three generations.

They couldn’t compare to these iron-hatted hereditary nobles.

These founding nobles were the true “nobles” in the eyes of the world.

Even a declining Earl’s Mansion like the Ning family had to choose officials of the third or fourth rank for marriage alliances. Not to mention the two Dukes who held heavy troops and guarded the borders of the Great Yan Dynasty for generations, their power was immense.

It could be said that every emperor had his own ministers, and every dynasty had the Duke’s Mansion.

During the reign of the late emperor, the Empress and the Noble Consort came from the two Duke’s Mansions respectively, each with a son.

For the sake of the throne, the two Duke’s factions fought for power and profit, fighting to the death.

In the end, the Crown Prince (the Empress’s son) and the Prince Ying (the Noble Consort’s son) both died.

The late emperor also passed away.

The current emperor was only pushed to the throne by the officials.

It was said to be the officials, but ten out of ten officials in the court were from the two Dukes. This was actually the result of the two Dukes weighing the pros and cons.

The current emperor’s mother was of humble origins and passed away early, and he had no chance to participate in court affairs during the reign of the late emperor, he was just a leisurely prince, and he seemed to be unfamiliar with politics.

His Empress Yuanxiao was a direct descendant of the Duke of Su’s Mansion, and the Duke of Su’s Mansion was considered his father-in-law. His concubine, the Noble Consort Shu, was related by marriage to the Duke of Xin’s Mansion.

He was related to both sides, but not much.

If he ascended the throne, the Duke of Su’s Mansion would get an Empress, and the Duke of Xin’s Mansion would have a Noble Consort in power, both families would benefit.

Furthermore, the Empress’s position was vacant, and they could send another daughter into the palace to compete for the position.

After careful consideration, the current emperor was the most suitable candidate among all the princes.

Concubine Xue was very clear about this, her grandfather had already explained to her that she entered the palace this time only for the Empress’s position.

She was the most noble direct descendant of the Duke of Su’s Mansion, her elder sister was the former Crown Princess, and her aunt was Empress Dowager Xue.

Even her cousin, whom she looked down upon, became Empress Yuanxiao.

How could a woman from the Xue family not be Empress?

“Humph!” Concubine Xue slapped the woman hard several times, until her face was red and swollen, before turning around and leaving.

The maid who followed her quickly reminded her, “Your Majesty, you are new to the palace, I’m afraid…”

“I’m doing this for the newly entered showgirls, and also for the Noble Consort Shu. What kind of status does she have, she deserves to be in charge of the six palaces? It’s only because my incompetent cousin died early that she got this opportunity!” A cold light flashed in Concubine Xue’s eyes:

“Now that I’m in the palace, I must establish my authority, make an example of someone.”

The maid didn’t say anything more.

Her mistress was not domineering in her boudoir before, she was always gentle…

Tang Miaoling and Ning Wanyin arrived at the Jingxi Palace and first greeted the Noble Consort Shu who sat on the main seat.

Noble Consort Shu, dressed in a crimson purple palace dress embroidered with golden peacocks, was gentle and elegant, and she smiled warmly, “Come, my dear sisters. You are cousins, I specially assigned you to the same palace so that you can have each other’s support.”

Tang Miaoling felt bitter in her heart, but she could only thank her. In her short month of memories from her past life, Noble Consort Shu was a kind person, she cared about everyone, and she must have meant well.

Ning Wanyin also thanked her. Noble Consort Shu’s words were a show of favor, telling them that she had helped them. Secondly, it was a warning, she was the one in charge of the palace.

She was both kind and imposing, and she seemed to have the demeanor of a virtuous Empress.

But since she knew that Tang Miaoling and Ning Wanyin were cousins, how could she not know how domineering and arrogant Tang Miaoling was in the Ning family?

Putting the two of them together was just to watch them fight.

She was malicious.

However, Tang Miaoling had suddenly changed her personality recently, and for the time being, Noble Consort Shu couldn’t enjoy the show.

“She thinks she’s the Empress, acting so pretentious.” Noble Consort Zhuang, who sat on the side, rolled her eyes, she couldn’t stand Noble Consort Shu’s act of being the legitimate wife.

She was wearing a concubine-colored dress with pearls and jade, with wide sleeves that trailed on the ground, and her head was adorned with pearls and jade, sparkling with jewels. Like Noble Consort Shu, she was also a concubine of the emperor before he ascended the throne.

The emperor broke the ancestral rule of not granting the title of Consort to those without a son for her.

He also raised the late Empress’s eldest princess in her care.

She was undoubtedly the most favored concubine in the six palaces.

Noble Consort Shu glanced at her and smiled faintly without speaking.

Noble Consort Fang, who sat at the lower end, immediately said, “Noble Consort Shu is acting as the Empress, diligently fulfilling her duties, so it must have reminded Noble Consort Zhuang of the Empress, right?”

Noble Consort Shu looked at her approvingly and smiled, “Noble Consort Zhuang is flattering me, I am far from comparable to the Empress.”

Noble Consort Zhuang was choked. She always liked to stir up trouble, but she wasn’t eloquent, and she had never won in a verbal battle with Noble Consort Shu.

The newly entered concubines all silently lowered their heads, pretending not to hear.

In the palace, besides Noble Consort Shu and Noble Consort Zhuang, there was no other mistress, the rest were Zhaoyi, Jieyu, and so on.

Because the current emperor was not favored when he was a prince, these concubines from the old palace were all of ordinary backgrounds.

They were far from comparable to the two newly selected Jieyus with amazing backgrounds.

The two newly selected Jieyus arrived almost at the same time.

One was bright and beautiful, she was Concubine Xue who had slapped someone just now. The other had a gentle temperament, she was the direct descendant of the Duke of Xin’s Mansion, Concubine Cen.

As soon as they appeared, the Jingxi Palace became quiet.

Many people had seen Concubine Xue slapping someone just now, and they thought she wouldn’t be polite to Noble Consort Shu and Noble Consort Zhuang either.

But she and Concubine Cen were very polite and bowed to the concubines of higher rank one by one, their every move was impeccable.

Noble Consort Shu greeted them with a warm smile.

Noble Consort Zhuang, who looked down on everyone, didn’t say anything either.

Noble Consort Fang was even more restless when they bowed, she slightly turned her body to avoid them, not daring to receive their greetings.

The atmosphere became inexplicably tense.

At this moment, Noble Consort Zhou, with a swollen face, walked in.

“Oh, Noble Consort Zhou, what happened to your face…” Noble Consort Shu pretended to be surprised and concerned.

“This concubine is fine.” Noble Consort Zhou lowered her eyes and didn’t say a word about it. She knew very well that she couldn’t afford to offend the Xue family.

In the entire palace, there were not many people who could afford to offend the Xue family.

No one spoke anymore, only Concubine Cen glanced at Concubine Xue, looked at Noble Consort Zhou and said softly:

“Sister Zhou, your beautiful face is injured, it’s a pity. My maid is good at making ointment, it’s very effective for swelling. Biqing, give Noble Consort Zhou a box.”

Her maid immediately handed Noble Consort Zhou a box of ointment.

Concubine Xue glanced at Concubine Cen, snorted, and her eyes were full of mockery.

Ning Wanyin watched this scene quietly.

Noble Consort Zhou’s background was the same as hers, they were both from declining Earl’s Mansions. If she couldn’t rely on anyone in the palace, she could be trampled on at any time.

This was a warning.